No cameras and phones in polling booths

Bulgarian officials have decided to ban cameras and camera equipped mobile phones from polling booths, fearing that they may be used for vote rigging.

Local elections are set for Sunday, and the country's media have reported that citizens were indeed bribed to vote for certain candidates and then take pictures of the ballot. Bulgaria's state news agency BTA is reporting that prosecutors have already launched several investigations over the scandal.

Bulgaria is the EU's poorest member state, and, as is the case in many former Eastern bloc countries, corruption is rampant, so the vote buying scam comes as no surprise.

Well, you can always complete the ballot, take a picture, and then cross out the damned thing with a huge X. Also, you could feel good about yourself, knowing that you've done to the politicians what they usually do to you - cheated them and took their money.

There were reports of similar incidents during the independence referendum in Montenegro, but apparently the people taking the pictures weren't getting cash to do it; it was a matter of honor and proving one's patriotism.